*2021 - 50 BOOKS FOR THE YEAR*

I`m persevering with the Hundred Year Old Man, but not really enjoying it, finding it a bit silly, but it`s upping my total to 105.

I thoroughly enjoyed Buried, can`t wait for the next in the series.
I`m just about to start a book that`s been lent to me, not sure about it really. It`s The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared, by Jonas Jonasson.

#64 Mansfield Park Jane Austen.
I 'had' to read this at school and hated it so decided to reread it to see whether my youthful impression had changed. It had, the book addresses the social issues of the time and I found it interesting in a way that my 15 year old self did not. However, it is very definitely at the bottom of my JA enjoyment scale.
#65 What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Jodi Taylor.
Another reliably enjoyable book in the St Mary's Chronicles.

#49. The House We Grew Up In by Lisa Jewell.

The End of Her was very good. Just starting book 104, Buried, by Lynda la Plant.

#63 Long Shadows Jodi Taylor.
Part 3 of the Elizabeth Cage paranormal mysteries. As usual with this author's books I enjoyed it very much.

Author of Saving Missy should be Beth Morrey not Morley

Oops, not updated on here for a while!
#69 The Ice by Laline Paull. Brilliant, set in the Arctic in the not-to-distant future when the ice cap is disappearing rapidly. An element of murder-mystery too!
#70 My Animals and Other Family by Claire Balding. Interesting memoir of the author’s childhood.
#71 The Appeal by Janice Hallett. Different take on a murder mystery whodunnit, where the reader is involved in solving the mystery.
#72 Swimming Pool Sunday by Madeleine Wickham. Enjoyable ‘Aga saga’ from the ‘90s, a genre that seems to have gone out of fashion.
#73 Saving Missy by Beth Morley. A heart-warming feel good story about a lonely elderly woman, with something of a twist at the end.
#74 Till the Cows Come Home by Sara Cox. Another childhood memoir, about growing up on a farm in Bolton. OK, but got rather boring!
#75 Small Pleasures by Clare Chambers. Really good. I love Clare Chambers’ writing.
#76 Reflection by Diane Chamberlain. Ok, didn’t enjoy it as much as her other books.
#77 A Comedian’s Prayer Book by Frank Skinner. Surprising and thought-provoking insights into the stand-up comedian’s Catholic faith.
#78 Everything but the Truth by Gillian McAllister. I thought I hadn’t read any books by this author until I got partway through and some incidents in the story sounded very familiar - I checked my book journal and realised I read it 4 years ago! ? I couldn’t remember the outcome so kept reading and enjoyed it - again!

Glad you enjoyed it Hellogirl1, maybe it was just me , my concentration is rubbish at the minute, so might reread it at a later date ?

Well, sorry Bridie22, but I really liked One August Night..I`ve just begun book 103, The End of Her, by Shari Lapena. I`ve enjoyed 2 other books by her, so high hopes for this one.

#33. Long and Winding Road by Alan Johnson. It’s the third of his memoirs. Not as interesting as his earlier books but I found his account of working as an MP and the various jobs he had in government quite illuminating. It stops in 2004 so I imagine there’ll be another volume at some point.

#48. Not Dark Yet by Peter Robinson.

I loved The McGregors. Book 102 is going to be One August Night, by Victoria Hislop. I`m hoping to enjoy it more than Bridie22 did.

I wasn’t overly impressed by the Leopard either, Terribull. I wanted to slap the Prince all the way through. . I liked some of the descriptive bits, though.

I hadn’t twigged that the narrator wasn’t speaking from the viewpoint of those actual times and was taken aback at the mention of jet planes at one point. I thought I’d somehow missed that Italy had powered flight more than half a century before the rest of the world! ?

41 The Leopard Guiseppe Tomasi Di Lampedusa I'd had this book on my to read list ever since Rick Stein mentioned it was his all time favourite novel, well it might have been his, certainly didn't prove to be mine. It was Okish a bit dull at times. Set in Sicily on the 1860s on the cusp of the unification of Italy. Much of the narrative was the musings of an aristocratic Prince, Fabrizio of Salina and the changing circumstances within his family as Garibaldi is about to invade Italy as part of his drive for unification. The Catholic church as ever, always on the wrong side of history, shown as a force that colludes with the rich to keep the poorer people in their place. It's quite evident that change is on the way. Not a thick book, just seemed like it! It did at least give me the impetus to read a bit about Garibaldi, so much more than a biscuit! I see you've read it too Sue Donin.
42 Believe Me J P Delaney - I can't remember much about this book, a British drama student in New York, working covertly without a Green Card for a firm of divorce lawyers to set up "honey traps" for errant husbands. Not that good.
43Home Stretch Graham Norton (audio) this was my book to do the ironing by, I like Graham Norton and his voice, he narrated the story. I've never read any of his stuff before but quite enjoyed this set in Cork about the lives of a teenage brother and sister whose lives are thrown into disarray when one of them is involved in a car crash.
44 Hostage Claire Mackintosh. I usually enjoy her books but found this one very disappointing. Plane hijacking, didn't enjoy it'.........unlike my next
45 The Night She Disappeared - Lisa Jewell I loved this book, great plot, don't want to give any away spoilers, but if there are any LJ fans reading this, suffice to say this is one of her best.

Armageddon Rag was OK, but not really something that I could recommend. I`ve just started book 101, The McGregors, Daniel and Ian, by Nora Roberts. It`s the first book I`ve read by her, the 2nd in a long family saga series, so I`ve missed book one.

#62 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Mary Ann Shaffer.
A book about the German occupation of Guernsey in WW2. It was recommended to me ages ago by a friend but I delayed reading it because I don't generally like books written in letter form. I absolutely loved this book. It has a wonderful cast of characters and is funny, sad, moving and informative.

#58 Boo! The Underdog with a Heart of Gold by Lisa Edwards. The story of a rescue dog with a very low IQ and a very large EQ, who helped children with learning disabilities. Heartwarming.
“59 The Dollmaker by Nina Allen. A surreal fantasy but very enjoyable.
#60 The Murder of my Aunt by Richard Hull. A reprint from 1934 about a bone idle, effete young man, who has decided to murder his aunt as he believes she stands in the way of his happiness. An enjoyable comedy of manners with a Pooter-type anti-hero.

The Missing Girl by Jenny Quintana... quite boring, a lot of story for the predicted ending.
One August Night by Victoria Hislop... follow up to The Island which I loved. This was disappointing, the best chapter was the Afterword which explained about origin , inhabitants of spinalonga, otherwise it was just a Greek love story.

The Last Foundling was a good, if a little sad, read.
Book 100 (blimey, I`ve reached my century!) is going to be The Armageddon Rag, by George R R Martin. It says he`s the author of A Game of Thrones, but I never watched it.

#60 Artemis Andy Weir. Very good Sci-Fi book set on the Moon. I enjoyed it, not as much as The Martian but very nearly. Andy Weir has a way of including very technical scientific content that you don't really have to understand but enjoy anyway.
#61 Solo Jill Mansell, a bit of chicklit. I have read several of the author's other books and thoroughly enjoyed them but this one I didn't really. The characters are for the most part irritating, unlikable or both. It is one of the author's early books, they improved later.

#47. The Shadows In The Street by Susan Hill.

#26 - If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by John
McGregor
#27 - The Thief of Time - John Boyne
#28 - Augie's War - J H Brown
#29 - Child's Play by Angela Marsons
#30 - Killing Mind by Angel Marsons (Currently reading)

# 31 A Town Called Solace by Mary Lawson. A Booker longlisted novel set in N Canada, it revolves round three characters ranging in age from very young to very old. It all ties up nicely by the end.

#32. Conundrum by Jan Morris. Jan Morris was born James Morris and changed sex in mid-life. I found it rather woo-woo and it contained some horrible stereotyping of people.

I loved Message in a Bottle, surprisingly, because I don`t usually go for love stories, especially as it was written by a man.
Book 99 is going to be a true story, The Last Foundling, by Tom Mackenzie.